LONDON (July 4) – Pound-for-pound star Sergey Kovalev’s Russian homecoming against Isaac Chilemba will be screened exclusively live on BoxNation on Monday July 11th.
The undefeated and unified light-heavyweight world champion will be looking to add to his impressive destruction of the 175-pound division when he takes on the well-schooled Chilemba, who, despite three points losses has never been stopped in 29 fights.
Unbeaten Irish warrior Carl Frampton today flew to New York for his step up to featherweight title challenge of Mexican warrior Leo Santa Cruz. The fight is still 27 days away, July 30, but Frampton said he made mistakes in his previous trip to America, when he was twice knocked down in his points win over Alejandro Gonzalez Junior – and one of these mistakes, Frampton told ESPN.com, was not getting to El Paso soon enough.
Isaac Chilemba feels he has been, and is being, disrespected by Sergey Kovalev as he approaches his July 11 shot at the light-heavyweight champ. Chilemba of South Africa is annoyed at the way Kovalev’s big November fight with Andre Ward has been announced and that he is seen as nothing more than a “stepping stone” for Kovalev. Speaking with Sowetan Live, Chilemba, 24-3-2(10) says he will make unbeaten puncher Kovalev pay for his disrespect and make history on the same night.
Last night in his native Germany, “suspended” heavyweight Erkan Teper returned to the ring for the first time in almost a year, since his European title winning fight with Britain’s David Price. As fans may recall, Teper failed a drugs test after the 2nd-round KO he scored last July, and was suspended for two years. Yet he was allowed, controversially so, to box yesterday because the ban was only directed towards EBU-sanctioned bouts. Last nights bout, against New York’s Derric Rossy, was sanctioned by the German Boxing Commission – (The BDB) who are, we read, supposed to be keeping strict checks on Teper.
Does superstar boxer turned senator Manny Pacquiao really want to fight again, or is it just his promoter Bob Arum who wants him to do so? Arum recently revealed how he had put the date of October 15th “on hold” for a Pacquiao ring return. Arum stated how he believes the former eight-weight king wants to fight again, and he reserved the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for Oct. 15th, “just in case.”
It’s a pretty quiet upcoming period for fight fans, with not too much scheduled between now and the July 23rd unification clash between rival 140-pound champions Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol, and then not too much set for the month of August. This coming Saturday, July 9, we should have all been settling down to the eagerly awaited rematch between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko, but due to Fury’s injured ankle, it looks like we will have to wait and wait for this one.
WBO welterweight ruler Jessie Vargas is losing patience with regards to his supposed upcoming (but still not officially announced) unification clash with IBF 147-pound champ Kell Brook. Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn has admitted to some “frustrations” in getting the fight finalised with a set date – due in large part to trying to make the GGG-Eubank Junior fight for around the same time period of late August/September – but Vargas is beginning to look elsewhere.
Arguably the single most experienced, seen-it-all-done-it-all active fighter in the sport today, former WBO 140-pound champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley’s pro record really does read like a who’s who of the 140 and 147-pound divisions. The amazing southpaw from Washington DC has, during his 20 year pro career, fought the following big and recognisable names: Randall Bailey X2 (a win and a loss), Zab Judah (a loss), Floyd Mayweather Junior (a loss), Miguel Cotto (a loss), Ener Julio X2 (two wins), Junior Witter (a loss), Devon Alexander (a loss), Marcos Maidana (a loss), Paul McCloskey (a win), Ruslan Provodnikov (a loss) and Viktor Postol (a loss).
(Photo Credit: Nabeel Ahmad/Premier Boxing Champions) The action heated up in round two as Shafikov landed a leaping right hook that drove Herring onto the ropes for a ruled knockdown. Shafikov of Miass, Russia continued to land hard power shots in round three as he cracked several straight left hands to Herring’s head.
Round five proved to be one of Shafikov’s best, as he hurt Herring with an overhand left that set off a flurry of power punches on the ropes. Herring, who fights out of Cincinnati, showed an immense amount of heart as he emerged from the attack with blood coming from his mouth, but a determination to prevail. By round seven, Herring was cut around his right eye, but he continued to battle on the inside, trading with Shafikov.
Fight fans will likely know the name Erkan Teper. The powerful 6’5” heavyweight from Germany scored what was initially viewed as an impressive 2nd-round KO over Britain’s David Price in July of last year. But later, Teper failed a drugs test and the win was changed to a no-decision by some (although not all). Price is still rightfully angered at the way he was cheated – only recently returning to the ring, picking up a win on May 29 and subsequently being reinstated in the top-15 with the IBF where he was ranked prior to the “loss.”